HC Deb 15 May 1939 vol 347 cc1131-43

10.55 p.m.

Mr. Foot

I beg to move, in page 15, line 25, after "Council," to insert: at any time within twelve months after the passing of this Act. This Amendment stands in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-on-Tweed (Sir H. Seely). On the last Clause a number of hon. Members took exception to the excessive powers being conferred upon a Government Department. If such objections apply to that Clause, they apply with even greater force to this one. I have seldom seen a Clause containing powers quite as wide as these put in any Bill brought before the House of Commons. I would ask hon. Members to look at the terms of the Clause. There are two powers given in this Clause. Power is given by Order in Council to make provision for such consequential matters as may appear expedient to provide for by reason of the passing of the Act, and the Government are also given power by Order to modify any enactment relating to such matters. Every hon. Member will realise that these are very wide powers indeed. The Government may provide for anything they please arising out of this Act and also may dispense with the provisions of any Act of Parliament. The second limb of this is what we are accustomed to call the Henry VIII Clause. In my view, and in the view of all my hon. Friends, it is entirely wrong at any time that a Government Department, or indeed the Government themselves, should have unlimited powers to set aside the provisions of Acts of Parliament.

I see in his place the hon. Member for Gateshead (Mr. Magnay), and only 10 days ago he made a very eloquent speech on a private Member's Bill in which it was proposed that power should me given, by odrer or by regulation, to set aside the provisions of private and local Acts. This is something that goes very much further than that. This matter was very fully conidered, as the Government know, by the Committee on Ministers' Powers. They produced a unanimous report. One of the signatories to that report was the new Minister of Supply, and it is a pity he is not on the Front Bench in order to advise the Government on this matter this evening. They considered it at great length, and heard a great deal of evidence on the subject of the Henry VIII Clause. I will remind the Committee of what they said. They said: There can be no doubt of the extreme convenience, from the point of view of those charged with the duty of bringing into effective operation a far-reaching measure of reform, of a dispensing power such as that contained in the so-called 'Henry VIII Clause.' But again the argument of convenience may be pushed too fax. Even though it may be admitted that Parliament itself has conferred these powers upon Ministers, and must be presumed to have done so with the knowledge of what it was doing, it cannot but be regarded as inconsistent with the principles of Parliamentary Government that the subordinate law-making authority should be given by the superior law-making authority power to amend a statute which has been passed by the superior authority. That is perfectly clear. The Committee went on to make this recommendation. They said the Henry VIII Clause should be used only for the purpouse of bringing the Act into operation, and that the operation of the Clause should be confined to the first 12 months of the Act.

I should like to see a Clause of this kind go altogether, but I appreciate that now we are acting in such a hurry it is too much to ask. I would like the whole Clause to have gone, but it is not unreasonable to ask the Government to carry out in this matter the unanimous recommendation of the Donoughmore Committee. Whenever they are asked about these matters at Question Time they tell us that they are bearing in mind the recommendations of the Committee, but it is very rarely they give effect to them. They ought to tell us whether they accept this recommendation and whether they will apply it.

They will not lose anything by accepting an Amendment of the kind that I have moved. They could make all the consequential alterations they want to make within 12 months. It seems to me and my hon. Friends on these benches that there is danger about the Bill and about the other Bill that we shall consider to-morrow. This is emergency legislation. It is being rushed through the House. There are many important points which we have no opportunity to consider. We are being asked in these Bills to pass Clauses of which the House would be very suspicious at any other time. Because it is emergency legislation we ought not to be asked to set up precedents which the House would always regret.

It will be said that these Orders must be submitted to Parliament, and that the assent of the two Houses must be obtained. That is a very different thing from legislation. Admittedly, it is a safeguard worth having, but every hon. Member knows the difficulty under which the House labours when Orders are presented like that. We are in this great difficulty, that although we can accept or reject, we cannot amend. Again and again when we have Orders presented in this way hon. Members, not only on this side but on the other side of the House, have found themselves in the difficulty that although they might criticise this or that detail, they could not give effect to their criticism in the Division Lobby, unless they were prepared to vote against the Order as a whole. This is a point that will come on later on the Amendment standing in the name of the hon. Member for Chester-le-Street (Mr. Lawson), and I only mention it to show that it is not sufficient in matters of this kind to say simply that the Order will be laid before the House and assent obtained.

Mr. McKie

The Government have been more than generous already in the concessions they have made. The hon. Member is suggesting that the Orders in Council will be presented in a very hurried way.

Mr. Foot

I do not suggest that they will be presented in a hurried way. I was saying that whatever the way in which they are presented, the House will be powerless to amend then. Even if we had weeks of discussion we should still be powerless to amend them, under this procedure. Therefore, that is a very different matter from legislation. Again and again on this Bill when certain matters have been raised and hon. Members have pointed out that this or that matter is not provided for in the Bill, we have been referred to Clause 10 and told that all these things will be dealt with by Orders made under Clause 10. That shows what wide use the Government intend to make of these particular powers. Therefore, they are not simply to deal with one or two minor details. It is wrong that the Government should have powers of this kind for, at any rate, an unlimited time. They ought to be used, if at all, only for a very short time and for the purposes of emergency. We want to confine them to that kind of purpose, and that is why I move the Amendment.

11.5 p.m.

Mr. E. Brown

The hon. Member always put his case with great lucidity and persuasiveness, but I think I shall be able to satisfy the Committee that the procedure which the Government have chosen is the right procedure if the aim of the Clause is to be achieved. What is the aim of the Clause? It is to deal with consequential matters. What are the consequential matters? The first is that we desire to take action on behalf of the militiaman. The whole foundation of the Clause is to secure certain things for him. The first thing is his civil rights, and the second his contractual liabilities. When men are called up for training things will have to be settled about their civil rights and their civil liabilities. The Committee may ask what kind of thing we mean. We mean the militiaman's pension rights, his insurance rights, his civil contractual liabilities. There are also other matters. We want to be able to secure by Orders in Council, after the draft has been approved by both Houses of Parliament, certain other things. The hon. Member is quite right in drawing attention to the very wide powers which are given. They are necessarily very wide powers, because our aims are wide.

We have to consider what we can do and how best we can do it in regard to rents, to payments under hire-purchase agreements, mortgage agreements and periodic payments in respect of insurance, especially insurances with collecting societies. That is a formidable list. The Clause is directed to easing the position of the militiaman while on service, to make his mind easy while he is undergoing his training. The Government take the view that it is impossible to foresee all the things which are liable to crop up in the course of the next few months. The Government cannot foresee them, and no Department can foresee them. One by one they will be brought to the notice of the Government, and the Government consider that the best way of dealing with them is by Orders in Council setting out what is the solution for these problems in order to ease the minds of men when they are called up, and to ask both Houses of Parliament to give the Order their authority. I think the Committee will see that it is preferable in this particular case to the procedure of having to come to the House with an Act of Parliament, because many of the decisions we shall have to make about these important subjects will be decisions which will be necessary in the interests of the militiaman and in the interests of all those who are bound by any contractual liability, and it will be desirable to get a decision as quickly as Parliament can do so on his behalf. It is for that reason that the Government have chosen this way.

As regards superannuation or pension rights, the Clause can deal with such rights as are conferred by Statute, or by schemes made in pursuance of statutory authorities such as the superannuation rights of local government authority employés, and also pension and superannuation rights that are extra-statutory, such as pension and superannuation rights that persons enjoy in undertakings such as railway companies and banks. I would also add that, as the Committee has been informed already, the decisions to be taken about Unemployment Insurance will naturally fall under Clause 10. I think that when the Committee considers the importance of these subjects to the militiamen, it will agree that, despite the formidable arguments that were put forward by the Donoughmore Committee in general about this procedure, this is the most practical and expeditious way of dealing with these most important questions which will be exercising the minds of the militiamen in regard to their civil pension rights and their contractual obligations.

Mr. Foot

Could not the Minister address himself to the Amendment on the Paper. The Amendment is to the effect that these powers should be exercised only within the 12 months of the passing of the Act. We have been told that expedition is necessary. If there is expedition, all these points will have been cleared up within 12 months.

Mr. Brown

I thought I had answered that point. I pointed out that a number of other things which could not be foreseen might crop up from time to time. I think it is wise that the powers should continue, if the need for them should continue, for the duration of the Act.

Mr. Magnay

All these things were done during the last War. As a matter of fact, it was my job to do them for the whole of the North Durham area. While the Minister was speaking, I was wondering whether all these things, such as pensions and contractual obligations, could not be dealt with by regulations or by some other means without using so big an instrument as an Order in Council.

Mr. Stephen

May I ask whether the decisions arising out of this Clause would involve a charge on the Treasury?

Mr. Brown

Certainly. It was for that reason that the Committee found itself in a paradoxical position with regard to the Financial Resolution. I think it was the widest Financial Resolution I have ever known.

Mr. Stephen

On a point of Order. I want to submit that, on the statement of the Minister, this Clause will involve a charge on the Treasury. Why is it not printed in italics?

Mr. Brown

If the hon. Member will look at Clause 13, he will see the answer.

11.14 p.m.

Sir P. Harris

I want to say a few words in support of the Amendment. We realise that the only justification for this Bill is the urgency of the situation, and we are not going as far as we would like to go and asking for the elimination of the Clause. What we ask is that it should be limited to the immediate situation, and that when the necessity for it disappears, we should go through the ordinary legislative formula, and protect the rights of the citizen, which is our responsibility in the House. It is very significant—I would not like to say sinister—that the Minister who replied on the Amendment was the Minister of Labour. He explained that the Clause would protect the private citizen from the unreasonableness of employers or the danger of a loss of employment. The right hon. Gentleman put forward a very seductive argument in favour of the Clause when he said that it was for the purpose of protecting the civic rights of the citizen. But there is another Minister alongside the right hon. Gentleman—the Secretary of State for War. No doubt he desires that this power should not be arbitrarily used by his Department, but Ministers come and Ministers go. He is the third Secretary of State for War we have seen in this Parliament and we might have a Minister with harsher views and stonier heart than the right hon. Gentleman. Experience shows that there is a terrific temptation to Government Departments to use powers of this kind harshly in order to swell the numbers in the Army, or to drag in men whom Parliament does not intend to bring within the purview of this Measure. It is vital that the House of Commons should keep these powers in its own hands, and if they must be used, to deal with the serious situation of to-day, they should be strictly limited.

Mr. Magnay

May I press for an answer to my question?

11.16 p.m.

Mr. Lees-Smith

Some of the points mentioned by the Minister will arise on an Amendment to be moved later by my hon. Friend the Member for Chester-le-Street (Mr. Lawson), but as regards the present Amendment I would say that this Clause is one which gives the Government very far-reaching powers to make Orders in Council. It is practically within the power of the Government to amend the Bill as they wish. For that reason the Clause ought to be greatly safeguarded. The Minister has not answered the point of the Amendment, which is that the power to make these Orders should be limited to 12 months. The instances which he gave were not of matters which would pass beyond 12 months. He himself said, as regards the widest instance given by him, that it would be necessary for the next few months. As the Minister has not answered the Amendment, my hon. Friends and I will support the Mover, if he goes into the Division Lobby.

11.18 p.m.

Mr. E. Brown

In reply to the hon. Member for Gateshead (Mr. Magnay) I would say that in the War, the Government did this by Order in Council under the Defence of the Realm Act without the House being consulted. I am sorry that I did not convince the right hon. Gentleman opposite, but I think the Committee will be convinced that since this Measure has to run for three years, and no one can foresee the number of things which may arise in that period, and since Parliament has the right to have these Orders laid on the Table, and to vote upon

them, it is better that this provision should run for the period of the Measure.

11.19 p.m.

Mr. Pritt

This Amendment raises an important question of principle. We are accustomed to Departmental legislation. Some people dislike it, but regard it as. inevitable; others rather like it, and I think, on the whole, I belong to the latter category. But this proposal, if not exactly unprecedented, is dangerous and requires careful consideration. If the Minister, later on, thinks of something which he would like to put into the Bill he can put it in an Order in Council. If the House is sitting when the Order is made that is all right. But if the House is not sitting, the Order may become law and remain law for a very long time. Then the House will be told: "What is the use of trying to put right, retrospectively, something which is a fait accompli"? It really is committing an important part of the duty of the Legislature to a Government Department, and I do not think the Committee should sanction that. The Minister said that lits of things might crop up. As long as we have a Government like this, we may have a crisis every week, but we are getting so used to it that when something urgent does crop up the Government produces its legislation rapidly, and it is dealt with. To allow Clauses like this to go through is to abrogate the legislative functions of this House and to entrust them to the right hon. Gentleman. It was suggested that we might have someone worse than the right hon. Gentleman, but he is quite bad enough for me, and I do not want to entrust him with the legislative powers of this House. This Amendment is a very modest one. All that it says is, "Do not let the Minister go on legislating for ever, but give him 12 months of dictatorship, and then tell them to shut up."

Question put, "That those words be there inserted."

The Committee divided: Ayes, 141; Noes, 243.

Division No. 128.] AYES. [11.22 p.m.
Acland, R. T. D. (Barnstaple) Barr, J. Burke, W. A.
Adams, D. (Consett) Batey, J. Cape, T.
Adams, D. M. (Poplar, S.) Beaumont, H. (Batley) Charleton, H. C.
Adamson, Jannie L. (Dartford) Beechman, N. A. Clue, W S.
Adamson, W. M. Bann, Rt. Hon. W. W. Cocks, F. S.
Ammon, C. G. Bevan, A. Collindridge, F.
Anderson, F. (Whitehaven) Bromfield, W. Cove, W. G.
Banfield, J. W. Brown, C. (Mansfield) Cripps, Hon. Sir Stafford
Barnes, A. J. Buchanan, G. Daggar, G.
Dalton, H. Jenkins, Sir W. (Neath) Price, M P.
Davidson, J. J. (Maryhill) Johnston, Rt. Hon. T. Pritt, D. N.
Davies, R. J. (Westhoughton) Jones, A. C. (Shipley) Quibell, D. J. K.
Davies, S. O. (Merthyr) Jones, Sir H. Haydn (Merioneth) Richards, R. (Wrexham)
Dobbie, W. Kennedy, Rt. Hon. T. Riley, B.
Dunn, E. (Rother Valley) Kirby, B. V. Ritson, J.
Ede, J. C. Kirkwood, D. Roberts, W. (Cumberland, N.)
Edwards, A. (Middlesbrough E.) Lansbury, Rt. Hon. G. Rothschild, J. A. de
Edwards, Sir C. (Bedwellty) Lathan, G. Sexton, T. M.
Evans, D. O. (Cardigan) Lawson, J. J. Shinwell, E.
Fletcher, Lt.-Comdr. R. T. H. Leach, W. Silverman, S. S.
Foot, D. M. Leslie, J. R. Smith, Ben (Rotherhithe)
Frankel, D. Logan, D. G. Smith, E. (Stoke)
Gallacher, W. Lunn, W. Smith, Rt. Hon. H. B. Lees- (K'ly)
Gardner, B. W. Macdonald, G. (Ince) Smith, T. (Normanton)
Garro Jones, G. M McEntee, V. La T. Sorensen, R. W.
George, Major G. Lloyd (Pembroke) McGhee, H. G. Stephen, C.
George, Megan Lloyd (Anglesey) McGovern, J. Stewart, W. J. (H'ght'n-le-Sp'ng)
Gibson, R. (Greenock) MacLaren, A. Stokes, R. R.
Graham, D. M. (Hamilton) Maclean, N. Summerskill, Dr. Edith
Green, W. H. (Deptford) Mainwaring, W. H. Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth)
Greenwood, Rt. Hon. A. Mander, G. le M. Thurtle, E.
Grenfell, D. R. Marshall, F. Tinker, J. J.
Griffith, F. Kingsley (M'ddl'sbro, W.) Mathers, G. Tomlinson, G.
Griffiths, G. A. (Hemsworth) Maxton, J. Viant, S. P.
Griffiths, J. (Llanelly) Messer, F. Walkden, A. G.
Groves, T. E. Milner, Major J. Watson, W. McL.
Hall, G. H. (Aberdare) Morrison, Rt. Hon. H. (Hackney, S.) Welsh, J. C.
Hall, J. H. (Whitechapel) Morrison, R. C. (Tottenham, N.) White, H. Graham
Harvey, T. E. (Eng. Univ's.) Muff, G. Whiteley, W. (Blaydon)
Hayday, A. Nathan, Colonel H. L. Wilkinson, Ellen
Henderson, A. (Kingswinford) Noel-Baker, P. J. Williams, E. J. (Ogmore)
Henderson, J. (Ardwick) Oliver, G. H. Williams, T. (Don Valley)
Henderson, T. (Tradeston) Owen, Major G. Windsor, W. (Hull. C.)
Hicks, E. G. Paling, W. Woods, G. S. (Finsbury)
Hills, A. (Pontefract) Parker, J. Young, Sir R. (Newton)
Holdsworth, H. Parkinson, J. A.
Hopkin, D. Pearson, A. TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—
Jenkins, A. (Pontypool) Pethick-Lawrence, Rt. Hon. F. W. Sir Percy Harris and Sir Hugh Seely.
NOES.
Acland-Troyte, Lt.-Col. G. J. Craven-Ellis, W. Gridley, Sir A. B.
Adams, S. V. T. (Leeds, W.) Critchley, A Grigg, Sir E. W. M.
Agnew, Lieut.-Comdr. P. G. Crooke, Sir J. Smedley Grimston, R. V.
Albery, Sir Irving Crookshank, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. F. C. Gritten, W. G. Howard
Allen, Col. J. Sandeman (B'knhead) Crowder, J. F. E. Guest, Lieut.-Colonel H. (Drake)
Amery, Rt. Hon. L. C. M. S. Cruddas, Col. B. Guest, Maj. Hon. O. (C'mb'rw'll, N. W.)
Anstruther-Gray, W. J. Culverwell, C. T. Gunston, Capt. Sir D. W.
Apsley, Lord De Chair, S. S. Hambro, A. V.
Aske, Sir R. W. De la Bère, R. Hammersley, S. S.
Assheton, R. Denman, Hon. R. D. Hannah, I. C.
Baldwin-Webb, Col. J. Denville, Alfred Hannon, Sir P. J. H.
Balniel, Lord Dodd, J. S. Harbord, A.
Beauchamp, Sir B. C. Donner, P. W. Haslam, Henry (Horncastle)
Beaumont, Hon. R. E. B. (Portsm'h) Duckworth, Arthur (Shrewsbury) Haslam, Sir J. (Bolton)
Bernays, R. H. Dugdale, Captain T. L. Heilgers, Captain F. F. A.
Boothby, R. J. G. Duggan, H. J. Heneage, Lieut.-Colonel A. P
Bossom, A. C. Duncan, J. A. L. Hepburn, P. G. T. Buchan-
Boulton, W. W. Eastwood, J. F. Hepworth, J.
Bower, Comdr. R. T. Eckersley, P. T. Hogg, Hon. Q. McG.
Boyce, H. Leslie Eden, Rt. Hon. A. Hore-Belisha, Rt. Hon. L.
Brass, Sir W Edmondson, Major Sir J. Howitt, Dr. A. B.
Briscoe, Capt. R. G. Ellis, Sir G. Hudson, Capt. A. U. M. (Hack., N.)
Broadbridge, Sir G. T. Elliston, Capt. G. S. Hunter, T.
Brooke, H. (Lewisham, W.) Emery, J. F. Hutchinson, G. C.
Brown, Rt. Hon. E. (Leith) Emmott, C. E. G. C. James, Wing-Commander A. W. H.
Bull, B. B. Emrys-Evans, P. V. Jones, Sir G. W. H. (S'k N'w'gt'n)
Burghley, Lord Entwistle, Sir C. F. Keeling, E. H.
Burgin, Rt. Hon. E. L. Errington, E. Kerr, H. W. (Oldham)
Butcher, H. W. Erskine-Hill, A. G. Kerr, J. Graham (Scottish Univs.)
Cartland, J. R. H. Evans, Capt. A. (Cardiff, S.) Kimball, L.
Castlereagh, Viscount Everard, Sir William Lindsay Knox, Major-General Sir A. W. F.
Cayzer, Sir C. W. (City of Chester) Fildes, Sir H. Lamb, Sir J. Q.
Cayzer, Sir H. R. (Portsmouth, S.) Findlay, Sir E. Latham, Sir P.
Cazalet, Thelma (Islington, E.) Fleming, E. L. Law, R. K. (Hull, S. W.)
Cazalet, Capt. V. A. (Chippenham) Fremantle, Sir F. E. Leighton, Major B. E. P.
Channon, H. Furness, S. N. Lennox-Boyd, A. T. L.
Clarke, Colonel R. S. (E. Grinstead) Fyfe, D. P. M. Levy, T.
Cobb, Captain E. C. (Preston) Gluckstein, L. H. Liddall, W. S.
Colman, N. C. D. Goldie, N. B. Lipson, D. L.
Colville, RI. Hon. John Gower, Sir R. V. Llewellin, Colonel J. J.
Cook, Sir T. R. A. H. (Norfolk, N.) Graham, Captain A. C. (Wirral) Loftus, P. C.
Cooke, J. D. (Hammersmith, S.) Grant-Ferris, Flight-Lieutenant R. Lyons, A. M.
Cox, H. B. Trevor Greene, W. P. C. (Worcester) Mabane, W. (Huddersfield)
McCorquodale, M. S. Ramsbotham, H. Stuart, Hon. J. (Moray and Nairn)
Macdonald, Capt. P. (Ids of Wight) Rankin, Sir R. Sueter, Roar-Admiral Sir M F.
McKie, J. H. Rathbone, J. R. (Bodmin) Sutcliffe, H.
Macnamara, Lieut.-Colonel J. R. J. Rayner, Major R. H. Tate, Mavis C.
Maitland, Sir Adam Reed, A. C. (Exeter) Taylor, C. S. (Eastbourne)
Makins, Brigadier-General Sir Ernest Reed, Sir H. S. (Aylesbury) Taylor, Vice-Adm. E. A. (Padd., S.)
Margesson, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. D. R. Reid, W. Allan (Derby) Thomas, J. P. L.
Markham, S. F. Remer, J. R. Thomson, Sir J. D. W.
Marsden, Commander A. Richards, G. W. (Skipton) Thorneycroft, G. E. P.
Maxwell, Hon. S. A. Robinson, J. R. (Blackpool) Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.
Mayhew, Lt.-Col. J. Ropner, Colonel L. Touche, G. C.
Medlicott, F. Ross Taylor, W. (Woodbridge) Tree, A. R. L. F.
Mellor, Sir J. S. P. (Tamworth) Rowlands, G. Tufnell, Lieut.-Commander R. L.
Mills, Major J. D. (New Forest) Royds, Admiral Sir P. M. R. Turton, R. H.
Mitchell, H. (Brentford and Chiswick) Ruggles-Brise, Colonel Sir E. A. Walker-Smith, Sir J.
Moore, Lieut.-Colonel Sir T. C. R. Russell, Sir Alexander Wallace, Capt. Rt. Hon. Euan
Moore-Brabazon, Ll.-Col. J. T. C. Russell, R. J. (Eddisbury) Ward, Lieut.-Col. Sir A. L. (Hull)
Moreing, A. C. Russell, S. H. M. (Darwen) Ward, Irene M. B. (Wallsend)
Morgan, R. H. (Worcester, Stourbridge) Salmon, Sir I. Wardlaw-Milne, Sir J. S.
Morrison, G. A. (Scottish Univ's.) Salt, E. W. Warrender, Sir V.
Morrison, Rt. Hon. W. S. (Cirencester) Sanderson, Sir F. B. Waterhouse, Captain C.
Muirhead, Lt.-Col. A. J. Sandys, E. D. Watt, Lt.-Col. G. S. Harvie
Munro, P. Scott, Lord William Wells, Sir Sydney
Nall, Sir J. Selley, H. R. Whiteley, Major J. P. (Buckingham)
Neven-Spence, Major B. H. H. Shakespeare, G. H. Wickham, Lt.-Col. E. T. R.
Nicolson, Hon. H. G. Shaw, Captain W. T. (Forfar) Williams, C. (Torquay)
O'Connor, Sir Terence J. Shepperson, Sir E. W. Williams, H. G. (Croydon, S.)
O'Neill, Rt. Hon. Sir Hugh Shute, Colonel Sir J. J. Windsor-Clive, Lieut.-Colonel G.
Orr-Ewing, I. L. Simon, Rt. Hon. Sir J. A. Winterton, Rt. Hon. Earl
Palmer, G. E. H. Smith, Bracewell (Dulwich) Wise, A. R.
Peake, O. Smith, Sir R. W. (Aberdeen) Womersley, Sir W. J.
Perkins, W. R. D. Snadden, W. McN. Wood, Hon. C. I. C.
Petherick, M. Somervell, Rt. Hon. Sir Donald Wragg, H.
Pilkington, R. Southby, Commander Sir A. R. J. Wright, Wing-Commander J. A. C.
Pownall, Lt.-Col. Sir Assheton Spens. W. P. York, C.
Procter, Major H. A. Stanley, Rt. Hon. Oliver (W'm'ld) Young, A. S. L. (Particle)
Radford, E. A. Storey, S.
Raikes, H. V. A. M. Strauss, H. G. (Norwich) TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—
Ramsay, Captain A. H. M. Strickland, Captain W. F. Lieut.-Colonel Kerr and Captain McEwen.

Question, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.

Clause II ordered to stand part of the Bill.